Former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya now claims that senior government officials frustrated his efforts to end banditry in the North Rift counties.
In an interview with Citizen TV on Monday night, Natembeya disclosed that former Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho used to ignore his calls, crippling the war against banditry in the troubled region.
“We were never given that approval. You brief the PS and it just ends there. Next time you call, they do not pick your call. How is it supposed to work?” he posed.
Natembeya, who resigned to contest for the Trans Nzoia governor’s seat last year after serving as Rift Valley RC for three years, said he spoke to retired President Uhuru Kenyatta more times than he did with the Interior PS.
“For the three years, I was Rift Valley RC, I spoke to the His Excellency the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, more times than I spoke to the PS. In that kind of circumstance, how do you succeed?”
He claimed that there was a lack of goodwill from Kibicho and other senior interior ministry officials to finance operations to end the banditry activities that have seen hundreds of lives lost in recent years.
“I wanted to be the last regional commissioner to talk about banditry. I was very enthusiastic with a lot of gusto and I mobilized all security agencies, my security officers all the way from Turkana to Baragoi and even held a meeting with all the KVDA commanders in Eldoret. I told them let us suffer for two-three months, but let no one who comes after us not suffer the way you have,” he said.
“We agreed that we are not going to ask any allowances from the government whatsoever apart from aerial support. We ensured we had enough fuel, vehicles and most importantly the go-ahead to move in. My commanders said they were ready to die protecting Kenyans.”
According to Natembeya, police officers deployed to fight bandits are often demoralised due to poor working conditions.
To win the war against bandits, Natembeya suggested that police officers should be well-resourced and renumerated to discharge their duties.
“Someone just woke up one day and said officers in operation areas should not be given any allowances whatsoever, not even hardship. The same salaries they are paid are the same a traffic officer in Nairobi is paid,” Natembeya said.
He also noted that politicians should support the government’s efforts to deal with the menace as some politicians finance banditry activities in the North.
“You are just the chair of the region’s security committee. The things that you discuss sometimes the officers are supposed to implement but somehow someone who was not in the meeting ignores them,” he said.
“When I say things did not work, it is not that I as the RC did not do my part, I did and wanted to end that menace but I was not allowed to.”
Natembeya remarks came just hours after the government termed the current security situation in the Northern Rift Valley region as a ‘national emergency’.
In a statement on Monday evening, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki flagged six bandit-prone counties in the region including Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwt, Baringo, Laikipia and Samburu as ‘disturbed’ and ‘dangerous’.
Kindiki noted that during the last six months over 100 civilians and 16 police officers have been brutally murdered forcing his ministry to take painful decisive measures to deal with the situation.
Some of the measures the government has taken to contain the situation include deploying Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers to the region as well as issuing ultimatums to locals to surrender illegal firearms.
